Consistency, accuracy and reliability of VDG

“Automated volumetric fibroglandular tissue measures from screening digital mammograms were in substantial agreement with MRI and if associated with breast cancer could be used in clinical practice to enhance risk assessment and prevention.”

“Raw mammographic images were acquired on two mammography imaging systems (General Electric and Hologic) one year apart and processed using VolparaDensity™ to obtain the Volpara Density Grade (VDG) and average volumetric breast density percentage (AvBD%). Visual BIRADS scores were also obtained from 20 expert readers. BIRADS scores for both systems showed strong positive correlation (ρ ¼ 0.904; p < 0.001), while the VDG (ρ ¼ 0.978; p < 0.001) and AvBD% (ρ ¼ 0.973; p < 0.001) showed stronger positive correlations.”

“This study indicates that Volpara™ Density Maps is reliable in estimating the local glandular tissue distribution and can be used for its assessment and follow-up. Volpara™ Density Maps is robust to small variations of the acquisition angle and to the beam energy …”

“Percent and absolute dense volumes as obtained with Volpara are associated with established determinants of mammographic density as well as breast cancer risk… our results suggest that automated measurement of volumetric mammographic density can be used as part of screening programs to provide risk and masking information that could be used to alter woman’s clinical management…”

“Volpara was robust to expected clinical variations, with errors in most investigated parameters giving limited changes in results…”

“VBD showed a highly significant positive correlation with visual assessment… Automated VBD is a reliable objective method to measure breast density.”

“Therefore, the use of automated software may help provide higher reproducibility, especially for patients with different bilateral breast densities… In conclusion, automated volumetric breast density measurement shows good agreement of BI-RADS density category as a quantitative method.”

“The categorization of serial mammograms in density classes is more consistent with automated software than with a mixed group of human readers. When using breast density to personalize screening protocols, assessment with software may be preferred over assessment by radiologists.”

“…our study shows that it is feasible to obtain accurate measurements of absolute and relative volumes of dense breast tissue from full field digital mammograms. Availability of such measurements is crucial for the development of objective breast cancer risk models and may be used in the development of personalized screening protocols.”

“Variability in a repeated measurement of breast density is lowest for Volpara and Quantra; these algorithms may be more suited to incorporation into a risk model.”